Stringed musical instrument



C. G. POST.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 14, 1920 1,410,504.I Pate ted-Man 21, 1922.

CLYDE GEORGE POST, OF NORTH ENGLISH, IOWA.

STRING-ED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

Application filed October 14, 1920. Serial No. 416,836.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLYDE GEORGE -I osrr,

a citizen of the United States, residing at North English, in the countyof Iowa and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in String-ed Musical Instruments, of which the following isa specification.

The invention relates to improvements in musical instruments and hasparticular reference to stringed instruments, such as the guitar,mandolin, or the like 1n wlnch the strings are plucked with the fingersor v1- brated by means of a pick.

Inmany instruments,,of which thegu'itar is an example, the strings liein a hor1zonta1 plane substantially parallel with the horizontal planeof the sound box and when the strings are plucked, by the fingers orbyuse of a pick, they are thus caused to v1brate in planes that are alsosubstantially horizontal so that the plane of v1brat1on does not passthrough the sound box but is in every case across the top oi the box.

By plane oi vibration I mean the d1reotion of the initial motionimparted to the string when it is stressed and released to cause itsvibration.

In 'uitars, or the like, strings are stressed or dehected laterally andnot in a direction toward and from the sound box as in my improvedinstrument.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a musical. instrumentin which a plurality of strings are arranged 111 a plane perpendicularto the upper race or sound box, with which they are associated, so thatthey may conveniently be stressed or deflected by the performer indirection toward and from the sound box, thereby causing the plane ofvibration to pass through the box instead of passing across the topthereof.

Another object is to arrange the fingerboard, upon which the strings aresupported, sufficiently high above the sound box to permit the hand ofthe performer to be freely moved over the frets and about thefinger-board, in the space between the latter and the sound box, and thearrangement issuch as to permit the sound box to be extended in lengthsubstantially equal to the length of the finger-board, thus increasingthe volume of sound and rendering substantially the entire linger-boardavailable ior manipulation by former.

Another object isto providea bridge for the strings, that will transmitthe vibrations from the strings to the box in line with the vibrations.

Other, further and more specific objects of the invention willbecomereadily apparcut, to persons skilled in the art, from a consideration ofthe following description, when taken in conjunction with the drawings,wherein Figure 1 is a plan view instrument.

"Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, and

Fig. 3 is an end elevation.

In all the views. the same reference characters are employed to indicatesimilar parts.

In the exemplification shown in the drawings 5 is the soundbox, 6 is thefinger-board and 7 is the arch for supporting one end of thefinger-board, having two supports, 8 and 9, connected to the inert outeredges of the sound box 5. i

The string bridge 10 passes across the finger-board 6 and positions thestrings 11 slightly away from the board. The lower end of the bridge 10is bifurcated having a leg 12 and another leg 13 to straddle the opening1a in the top 15 of the sound box.

16 is the bottom wall of the sound box, there being a vertical wall 17between it and the top wall 15. The sound box, in the present instanceis shown as pear shaped, having a projection 19 extending laterallytherefrom, which engages the tuning peg end 20 of: the finger-board, andis one of the means in conjunction with the arch 7, by which the on thesound box, thus providing three inert points of support for thefinger-board. The strings are fixed to a tail piece 21, at the other endof the linger-board. The frets 22, that extend transversely of thefinger-board, may be continued substantially the full length of theboard, and thus the entire length of the finger-board may becomeavailable.

Of course, it is obvious that this invention may extend to and beincorporated in other instruments of the same general character, such asthe mandolin, banjo, and the like.

IVhile I have here shown a single embodiment of the invention forpurpose of the fingers of the perof the improved finger-board issupported up- 9 clear disclosure, it is clearly apparent that changesmay be made in the arrangement and configuration ot the parts within thescope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention What I claim .is new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is 1. A musical instrument havin an oblong sound boxand a plurality oi? strings arranged in a. plane perpendicular to theface of the box and each string parallel with the longest axis oi thebox.

2. A musical instrument having an oblong sound box and a plurality ol"strings arranged in a plane perpendicular to the face of the box andwith effective lengths within the lineal limit oil the box and parallelwith the longest axis of: the box.

23. A musical instrument having an oblong sound box; a linger-boardextending substantially' the length thereof and elevated thereabm'e anda plurality of strings in substantially a single plane perpeiulicular tothe face of the box, supported on said fingerboard and parallel with thelongest axis of the box.

4-. A musical instrument having a sound bbx; a linger-board extendingvsubstantially the length thereof and elevated thereabove to permitaccess to the strings between the board and box; a plurality of stringsin a plane perpendicular to the iiace of the box and a three-pointsupport lfor the board, on the box.

5. A musical instrument having a sound box substantially pear shape inoutline; a finger-board extending from the widest portion to the smallerend of the box; an arch extending across the widest end of the box tosupport one end oi the linger-board and a single support for the otherend of the finger-board extending from the smaller end of the box, saidsupports spacing said finger-board from the box to render sub stantiallythe entire length of the lingerboard available for fingering.

6. A musical instrument having a sound box; a plurality of strings in asingle plane perpendicular to the face oil the box, the e!- t'eetirelength of which is' in'unediately above the box; a fingerboard, uponwhich the strings are supported, spaced a \va y from the box to renderthe strings available for fingering through said space and a stringbridge extending across and under said strings and in contact with saidbox.

In testimony Whereotl hereunto subscribe my nanie.

CLYDE GEORGE POST.

